WEBVTT - REINVENTION 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:06.680 Reinventing, re evaluating, rethinking. So many of us are feeling 0:00:06.720 --> 0:00:11.200 the pole in that direction, taking stock asking is this 0:00:11.720 --> 0:00:15.960 what I still want? Is this who I still am? 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:19.759 So many are now feeling pushed into new directions, forced 0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:25.079 to pivot that could be uncomfortable, right and frightening. My 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:28.200 two guests have lived those feelings and learned a few 0:00:28.200 --> 0:00:31.400 things about how to work through them. Eddie George was 0:00:31.400 --> 0:00:33.680 an All Pro running back for the Titans and Heisman 0:00:33.720 --> 0:00:36.839 Trophy winner at Ohio State who dove into stage acting. 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:40.720 He's already played some of Shakespeare's most epic characters and 0:00:40.760 --> 0:00:45.800 started in Broadways production of Chicago. So there's a lot 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:50.360 of pressure, and I'm thinking, yeah, you know, they're going 0:00:50.440 --> 0:00:54.360 to come see what a football player is doing on 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:56.840 this stage and if he can actually has the shops 0:00:56.840 --> 0:01:00.480 to do it. So it's very similar. The energy every night, 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:05.120 every every single night, in every performance on Broadway is 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:07.960 definitely like the Super Bowl. There's you don't there's not 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:12.520 a regular season game on Broadway every night, He's a 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:16.199 super Bowl night. Clinton Kelly is a beloved Emmy winning 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:19.440 TV host from t LCS What Not To Wear to 0:01:19.560 --> 0:01:22.839 the Chew on ABC and now h G t VS 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:26.480 Self made Mansions, and he's the best selling author of 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:30.200 five books. I think that knowing what you want um 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:32.120 and having a plan on how to get it is 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:35.000 really powerful. I think that you have to really ask yourself, 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:39.520 what do I want from life? Am I even close 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:42.040 to achieving that? And if not, how can I get there? 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:44.120 And so then you have to ask yourself, are all 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:47.560 of my behaviors serving that purpose, like the moving me 0:01:47.680 --> 0:01:50.360 toward that goal? Or are they moving me away from 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:53.160 that goal? And I felt like I am slowly feeling 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:56.960 my goals slipping away from me because I just am afraid. 0:01:57.200 --> 0:01:59.760 Like that sort of boils down to it. Both Clinton 0:01:59.840 --> 0:02:05.640 and Eddie have frequently taken stock and emerged, reinvented, and recharged. 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:09.040 I first met Eddie the week he won the Heisman Trophy. 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:13.400 In twenty years later, he returned to New York for 0:02:13.520 --> 0:02:18.960 his Broadway run. So Eddie, five years ago Heisman Trophy presentation, 0:02:19.960 --> 0:02:24.120 a video comes on showing you rehearsing for Chicago and 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:27.519 getting ready to start on Broadway. Coming out of that piece, 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:31.799 the expression on the face of your HAIs Brothers, they 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:35.040 could not believe the guy they knew as a great 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:38.400 football player, had the bravery and the cajone is to 0:02:38.480 --> 0:02:40.320 do what you were doing. Did you sense in the 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:43.519 room how blown away these guys were by this career 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:47.520 pivot you had made. Yeah, of course, Um, you know 0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:50.080 some of them were like, oh my god, he's wearing 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:54.600 leotards in a two two? Uh, oh my god, he 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:56.560 what is he? What is he doing? Now? You know 0:02:57.240 --> 0:03:01.639 I got a sense of that. But um, they were, man, 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:05.840 they were in awe. I think, yeah, somewhere in all somewhere, 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:08.560 like you know, I looked over at the ball coach. 0:03:08.639 --> 0:03:11.320 He was like, you know, he's rocking his chair with 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:15.200 this like look of bewilderment, like that, really is he 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:19.359 really doing that? He asked me later, he says, did 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:21.560 you really sing? Like do you? I was like, yeah, 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:24.040 I'm doing it all. You know. It's like there's no 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:27.639 there's no stand there that comes in and doesn't talk 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:32.080 about yeah yeah Steve. So you know it was you know, 0:03:32.120 --> 0:03:37.920 to see their expression was priceless. But prior to that, Chris, 0:03:38.000 --> 0:03:43.400 I've been studying acting and um been on stage uh 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:47.000 seven eight years before that. You know, Uh, some of 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:51.000 my worst moments where when they didn't see it, you know, 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:56.240 UM and auditions and UM being on stage and forgetting 0:03:56.240 --> 0:03:59.320 my lines and making stuff up on the fly and 0:04:00.480 --> 0:04:04.280 going backstage, not wanting to go back out there ever 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:06.920 again in life. But I had to must up to 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:09.880 strengthen the courage to to do that and trust that 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:11.920 the words were in there. And that's just a part 0:04:11.960 --> 0:04:15.880 of process, the process of anything, you know, UH, playing sports. 0:04:16.200 --> 0:04:19.200 You know, earlier in my career at the Ohio State, UM, 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:22.280 I had some great success. Uh scored three touchdowns in 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:26.440 the ESPN Game of the Week against Sarrah Houston, UM, 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:29.440 and only two weeks later to fumble twice in Illinois 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:32.159 or opening game. And that was a struggle and I 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:36.000 had to be defined and find myself there. So UM, 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:39.400 it's it happens in cycles, I believe. I think, UM 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:41.680 when you when I when I made the transition to 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:44.520 be to acting, it was not seamless. It was not easy. 0:04:44.760 --> 0:04:48.719 It was not like, hey, I have this this great talent. 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:50.880 I have to develop it and I continue to develop 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:54.240 it like any other muscle. So it was it was daunting. 0:04:54.279 --> 0:04:56.279 But you know, for for me to be you know, 0:04:56.400 --> 0:04:58.800 show my hysman brothers five years ago what I was 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:01.840 doing I felt confident at that point. They say, hey, 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:04.320 you know what, it doesn't it really doesn't matter what 0:05:04.440 --> 0:05:07.040 you think, come and check it out. And I mean 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:10.400 at that point I just didn't care more. Well, no 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:12.480 one steps on stage and Broadway or anywhere else in 0:05:12.480 --> 0:05:15.240 showbis without paying their dues, without stumbling and falling and 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:18.800 embarrassing themselves. We'll get to all that. Your journey is amazing. 0:05:18.839 --> 0:05:22.280 The parallels you just drew between your football career and 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:25.159 the acting career are interesting to me. But I do 0:05:25.279 --> 0:05:28.320 want to go back to the moment when you realized 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:31.599 football was was nearing the end and you were gonna 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:34.760 have to pivot. Great years in Tennessee, Pro Bowls were 0:05:34.839 --> 0:05:37.640 Kie of the Year, Super Bowl, you went to Dallas. 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:41.000 I believe was just for one year, and the end 0:05:41.240 --> 0:05:44.520 maybe came earlier than you thought, maybe came in a 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:47.320 different way than you thought. When that moment arrived and 0:05:47.360 --> 0:05:50.040 you had to face that it was ending and I 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:52.280 had to figure out something else to do. What was 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:57.000 that moment? What did that feel like for you? Oh? Well, 0:05:57.320 --> 0:06:02.039 it's felt um like I was in the twilight zone 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:05.760 a little bit because what I've known for so long, 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:09.480 how I prepared for each season. How I m got 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:13.720 my mind right for my training in the different phases 0:06:13.880 --> 0:06:16.600 of getting ready for NFL season or football season. I've 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:18.880 been doing it my entire life up to that point. 0:06:19.320 --> 0:06:24.560 And I was thirty one, and um, when I once 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:28.160 I realized that that my playing days were done, it 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:30.960 was it was a gut riching feeling. I mean, I 0:06:31.040 --> 0:06:34.200 saved my money. I had a roof up from my head. 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:39.279 I wasn't fearful in that regard of of being financially broke, 0:06:39.920 --> 0:06:43.520 but it was like, oh damn, you know what's next? 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:46.559 Or really, you know who am I? What was that moment? 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:49.640 What was there a point where you realized in a 0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:54.440 game or a practice that wow, um, this is I'm 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:55.960 not long for this and this is not how I 0:06:56.000 --> 0:06:58.200 want to go out, but I may not have my 0:06:58.200 --> 0:07:02.120 my choice. Yeah, it was, Uh it was. It was 0:07:02.160 --> 0:07:06.800 a cold day in November in Dallas practice and um 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:10.239 Tony Romo was the scout team quarterback at that time, 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:13.360 and I was on scout team goal line, scout team 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:18.120 running back and I remember thinking as he's calling out 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:22.840 the play, I'm like thinking to myself, my god, I 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:26.360 want to hisman trophy. I was the face of a franchise, 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:31.200 all the accolades, all the accomplishments that that I've accomplished 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:34.840 in my my career. And I'm thinking to myself now 0:07:35.000 --> 0:07:38.640 reduced to a gold line Scout team running back. I 0:07:38.760 --> 0:07:43.280 never played scout team in my life. And he says, 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:46.040 mixed the call and break bread break. I didn't get 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:47.600 the calls, and I wasn't thinking. I was like, oh 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:49.720 my god, Okay, what am I gonna do here? I 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:52.239 can't stop the drill. I'm already in the dog house 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:55.400 and build ourselves, so I gotta figure it out. I said, Okay, 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:58.480 I'm a I'm a savvy veteran. If he opens up right, 0:07:58.480 --> 0:08:00.320 I'll go right. To go up left, I'll go left. 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:03.560 So he opens it right, I go right, and it 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:06.880 continues to go right and hands the ball off and 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:09.400 I'm with the wrong way and I screwed the drill up, 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:12.040 and Parcels screams out at the top of his lungs 0:08:12.080 --> 0:08:15.360 in front of everybody, George, get the f off my field. 0:08:15.360 --> 0:08:18.640 You're messing up my drill. And the time I'm thinking, 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:20.520 you know, I was born in as a veteran, well 0:08:20.640 --> 0:08:24.280 respected that was extremely embarrassing, and I thought to myself, 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:29.040 I got kicked off of scout team. My career is done. 0:08:29.640 --> 0:08:32.840 And it was, and it was the harsh reality of 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:36.880 of playing in in the NFL. UM. Prior to that, 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:40.319 it didn't matter what I accomplished going into Dallas. It 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:43.120 was how much value did I bring them? And the 0:08:43.160 --> 0:08:45.960 fact of the matter, I was a veteran. I cost 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:49.719 more money than than the rookie. UM. I could have 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:52.800 played a few more years. But the writing, the handwriting 0:08:52.840 --> 0:08:55.280 was on the wall. And and that's that's really what 0:08:55.360 --> 0:08:57.880 I kind of knew that the door was gonna shut 0:08:57.920 --> 0:09:01.839 on me. UM. I had visions of of my retirement 0:09:01.960 --> 0:09:05.199 coming on a day where I played fourteen years, won 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:10.000 four Super Bowls, UM, and I had my family and 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:13.120 friends in the audience and some of the media and 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:16.360 just official to my right and left and but adds 0:09:16.400 --> 0:09:19.240 to my left, God, bless your soul, UM, I have 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:22.000 a chance to have that dramatic pause at the podium 0:09:22.000 --> 0:09:24.679 and ship a few tears and then come right back 0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:27.680 and and talk about what's next. But but my career 0:09:27.800 --> 0:09:31.560 ended with me sitting at my kitchen table UH at Stewart, 0:09:31.559 --> 0:09:34.840 Glenn where I lived in Nashville with my flip phone, 0:09:34.920 --> 0:09:37.600 hoping from my agent to calling me with another opportunity. 0:09:37.800 --> 0:09:39.320 It's a little scary all of a sudden, you have 0:09:39.320 --> 0:09:42.760 to make this transition your your identity as an athlete, 0:09:42.800 --> 0:09:45.199 which is from your earliest memories. Probably it's in your 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:48.240 literally in your DNA. It's who you are. And that's gone. 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:51.560 And now you've got a comfortable situation. You're grateful for that, 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:55.040 I'm sure, but you also got a lot of time 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:59.160 left in your life. And how did you come upon 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:05.160 acting as a potential outlet for your creative energy and 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:08.480 all that stuff? Well, I was getting at that time. 0:10:09.040 --> 0:10:11.240 I was still doing some stuff out in Hollywood to 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:15.079 get opportunities to audition for a few pieces, and they 0:10:15.080 --> 0:10:16.800 weren't going well. I had no idea what the hell 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:20.480 I was doing. He talked about embarrassing, It was rarely embarrassing. 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:23.600 Remember having my shirt off for for one audition and 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:27.480 I'm punching air shadow boxing and they're asking me to 0:10:27.559 --> 0:10:30.760 make noises, and you know, I'm thinking to myself, is 0:10:30.800 --> 0:10:33.679 this is this what I'm supposed to be doing? It 0:10:33.840 --> 0:10:36.880 just didn't feel right, and I'm like, this is this 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:39.520 is silly? I really need to get, you know, if 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:41.680 I want to do this, to get the proper training 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:44.920 for it. So I came back home, and UM, I 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:47.440 sought out a couple of acting coaches here in town, 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:50.440 and I said, hey, you know what, treat me as 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:53.320 a rookie. UH, start me off slow, you know, to 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:55.679 show me what I need to learn. They gave me 0:10:55.840 --> 0:10:59.280 a ton of books to hogg in, um the uh 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:04.640 the art of acting. UM, A bunch of just children's 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:07.840 stories books, you know, just to start with character development, 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:11.280 cold reads, and and just built from there. Um. And 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:13.920 it was like three or four years of this three 0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:18.040 times a week of writing and listening and learning and 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:20.600 getting on my feet and improv and all of that. 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:25.440 And then it grew into the classics of Shakespeare and 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:28.880 Susie Lauri Parks and contemporary work. So it just kind 0:11:28.880 --> 0:11:32.760 of built over time. UM. With that, Uh, So I 0:11:33.280 --> 0:11:36.600 was willing to start over again because I knew the 0:11:36.640 --> 0:11:41.600 process of understanding and really appreciating the art. I just 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:44.560 didn't want to be the athletes just coming in delivering 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:47.760 a couple of lines. I really wanted to understand what 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:50.280 it meant to be an athlete, and through my experience, 0:11:50.840 --> 0:11:54.560 I took a lot of that um that pain that 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:57.880 I experienced from playing football into some of the roles 0:11:57.960 --> 0:11:59.760 that I was that I was playing, and it really 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:04.600 came across authentic and real because it was real, and uh, 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:08.000 it was cathartic. You know. Acting is truly a cathartic 0:12:08.120 --> 0:12:11.480 experience is a very spiritual experience. It's it's telling the 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:15.240 truth and imaginary circumstances and and that's and that's what 0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:17.880 it is. You You are telling the truth of your 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:20.400 own life, how you perceived the life of the character 0:12:20.480 --> 0:12:23.080 through that. So that's that's what I had to learn 0:12:23.160 --> 0:12:27.720 and relearn, and it provided some healing for me in 0:12:27.840 --> 0:12:30.360 terms of how my career ended. So it was truly 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:33.199 a lessing in the gift well. Life humbles us all 0:12:33.240 --> 0:12:35.760 in many ways, and the fact that you realized you 0:12:35.840 --> 0:12:39.079 had to embrace that humility, start from scratch and be 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:41.280 willing to come in not as a celebrity athlete, but 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:43.440 someone who was just starting to learn a new craft 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:45.240 and it was gonna take everything you had to to 0:12:45.280 --> 0:12:47.560 be good at it. I think that's awesome. My dad 0:12:47.600 --> 0:12:49.720 was a theater director, so I grew up around this stuff, 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:53.400 and but it scared the hell out of me. The 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:55.440 idea of getting on stage and actually doing I love 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:58.680 the electricity of it. I saw the tension and him 0:12:58.720 --> 0:13:00.360 it was a part of our family went a production 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:02.200 was going on. He was also a professor of theater art, 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:04.360 so he's around kids all the time. But I was 0:13:04.400 --> 0:13:06.640 scared to death of take an acting class much. Let's 0:13:06.640 --> 0:13:09.679 get on stage. So I applaud you for doing that. 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:13.679 So so you're taking on these roles. You're in Nashville 0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:17.960 at one point, and you get a chance to play Othello, 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:22.000 she has to play in Julius Caesar. So now you're 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:26.160 speaking some of the great words ever written for this stage. 0:13:26.240 --> 0:13:28.200 I mean, speak of me as I am one that 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:30.640 loved wisely but not too well. But by the way, 0:13:30.679 --> 0:13:33.839 before you kill yourself and Julius Caesar, I mean, this 0:13:33.920 --> 0:13:37.280 is just this is heavy stuff. Did you did you 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:40.040 enjoy it? Sort of embracing that and realizing that you're 0:13:40.120 --> 0:13:42.679 taking on this this great tradition of these roles and 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:45.280 go back forward to years. Oh my god, it was. 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:47.880 It was awesome. Um. I remember when I first fell 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:52.160 in love with actually with Shakespeare on stage. Um, you know, 0:13:52.160 --> 0:13:54.880 my acting coach and a real friends. Look bless your soul. 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:58.320 She tells me any time that I can go to 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:01.240 see a play in New York City, every time I 0:14:01.240 --> 0:14:03.360 go to take a trip, whether it's for you know, 0:14:03.400 --> 0:14:07.000 for the Heisman or a business trip, make sure you 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:09.040 go see a play. That's a part of the training 0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:13.760 of an actor. And um, I went to UH to 0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:17.720 New York at the time to go see uh Macbeth 0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:20.560 and or it was a handle. It was Hamlet with 0:14:20.600 --> 0:14:25.200 the June Law. And I'm thinking, Okay, this is Shakespeare. 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:28.560 I'm gonna say it's a great experience. I got my 0:14:28.640 --> 0:14:31.960 pillow ready, I got my line. I'm ready to knock out, 0:14:32.280 --> 0:14:35.040 you know, wake up second act and say brabo. Right, 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:37.280 that's when I'm That's what I'm one wanted to do. 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:41.280 But my wife is the same way. So we're in 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:47.200 the audience and immediately, you know, the the stage transforms 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:51.000 into that world and the smoke comes out. And I 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:53.960 promised you, Chris, I could not understand a single word 0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:56.960 they were saying, but based off of their language, based 0:14:57.000 --> 0:15:01.840 off of their the heightened speech, everything about it was transformed. 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:04.400 I was transfixed. I was just just locked in and 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:06.400 enchanted by it. And I was like, oh, my god, 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:09.520 this is really riveting. So once I got a kind 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:11.560 of caught up my ear, kind of caught it with 0:15:12.040 --> 0:15:15.200 my with with the the with the words and what 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:18.640 they were saying, I kind of understand now what was happening. 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:21.760 I fell in love with it and did not falsely. 0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:25.480 I hung on every single word and the poetry and 0:15:25.520 --> 0:15:29.560 the body, the language athleticism of jew Law. I said, 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:31.960 that's what I want to do. And I told my 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:35.080 wife that. She was like, you can barely speak the 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:38.880 English language little alone Shakespeare. But that was the challenge 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:43.760 and I supportive message, by the way. Absolutely. It was like, 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:47.560 you can barely speak English, well, you know. But you 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:50.840 go from being an audience member who was in awe 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:53.240 of that to someone who believes they can do it. 0:15:53.280 --> 0:15:56.360 What what did it require of you initially to sort 0:15:56.400 --> 0:16:00.200 of believe that you could stay up there and play out, 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:04.040 not just be an audience member marveling at it? Oh man? 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:06.520 It well, it takes the first step of getting the 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:10.160 words in your mouth, of picking up a play. I 0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:14.400 would just behind me. I have, um, you know, the 0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:17.000 no fear Richard. The third, I have all my stuff 0:16:17.280 --> 0:16:20.960 just over my shoulder. Um. I picked up these DVDs 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:24.840 on how to act Shakespeare. I worked with it on 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:27.480 my acting coach day in and day out, will work 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:31.840 on soliloquies and speeches and um, go through a play 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:35.640 and and go through each and every single word and 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:39.440 break it down and understand that first of all, to 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:42.600 to to remember to remember the of the your lines. 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:45.560 It's and you don't remember them. It's a rhythm. Is 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:47.640 I am a contamina? And you've got to know the 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:50.160 rhythm is that I'm that, I'm that um that ump 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:53.920 that up that I'm So it tells you exactly where 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:57.680 the uh, the actor is in the emotional state. If 0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:00.680 that rhythm is broken, you can understand and that okay, 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:04.440 there's something mostly going on here or or if it's 0:17:04.480 --> 0:17:06.119 not in the rhythm, I mean, it's just a certain 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:08.800 rhythm that you that you uh, that you go by 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:12.080 and you get in your body. And uh. That was 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:14.520 a lot of fun for me because now I can 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:17.200 be the athlete that I was as a football player, 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:20.080 and I can marry the two. You could overdo the comparisons, 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:22.280 but there is a playbook and football there's a script 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:26.320 and there's learning you know, the play on the page. 0:17:26.960 --> 0:17:29.080 Two dimensional things. Then you've got to act it out 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:31.000 on the field and understand the new one to that 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:34.119 and the and the space to improv and where no 0:17:34.240 --> 0:17:36.520 two players in football right are the same right, And 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:38.840 and for people who do know theater, they may the 0:17:38.880 --> 0:17:41.640 script maybe the same Shakespeare's words, you're probably not add 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:45.000 living those performance performance, but there's always these differences. What 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:49.040 what did you love about that energy, that improvisation in 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:51.119 the moment edie of being on a life stage that 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:55.399 compared to football. Well, the beauty about stage is this, Chris, 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:58.640 You're you're doing the same play, but each performance is different. 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:02.359 You come to a different actor, you come to it 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:05.600 with a different level of understanding who you were as 0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:08.480 an actor on the opening night, You're gonna be completely 0:18:08.520 --> 0:18:13.000 different by the end of the run. On the closing night, 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:16.000 meaning that you want to understand the story a little 0:18:16.000 --> 0:18:19.560 bit deeper. There will be there'll be epiphanies in the 0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:21.879 play as you're saying and we're like, oh my god, 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:25.000 this is what this means because it's becoming true to 0:18:25.119 --> 0:18:28.760 the character. So it's it's not like you're saying the 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:32.760 same words the same way the same blocking. The freedom 0:18:32.880 --> 0:18:36.439 is in the speech. So once you really understand what 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:39.199 you're saying and why you're saying, what your motive is 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:44.200 in that scene, then it becomes something completely different. You're 0:18:44.240 --> 0:18:46.480 just not spilling out words is to get it out. 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:49.800 You're coming with needing, You're coming with nuance. You're not 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:55.160 you're not manufacturing the moment. You're not manufacturing tears. There 0:18:55.200 --> 0:18:58.960 could be a scene in there where it may trigger 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:01.320 something in your life from you're thinking of your father 0:19:01.760 --> 0:19:03.879 in that moment for the character, and the same thing 0:19:03.920 --> 0:19:07.960 holds true. It runs parallel, and now you're really getting 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:11.680 into the crux and the new and the real nuance 0:19:11.880 --> 0:19:15.200 of the character and the truth of the character. So 0:19:16.440 --> 0:19:19.239 if you if you approach it, and I've approached it 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:23.639 that way where I'm looking to learn something different about 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:26.480 this character. Why and that's why I stayed in my script. 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:30.840 I'm constantly looking and saying, oh wow, you know, why 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:33.639 is he seeing this word here? You know, why is 0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:38.520 a fellow um using these words at this moment in time? 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:40.679 And what does it really mean for him? You know 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:43.880 the weight that he's carrying, and you allow that that 0:19:43.880 --> 0:19:46.679 that energy to take over and trust it and and 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:49.000 trust the words that they're going to be there. So yes, 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:52.160 it's much like a play in football, where it's designed 0:19:52.160 --> 0:19:55.200 the excess and those supposedly Okay, you're gonna kick out 0:19:55.200 --> 0:19:57.560 block the fullbacks will go down a linebacker and now 0:19:57.640 --> 0:19:59.520 you want to you know, run for a dr touchdown. 0:19:59.720 --> 0:20:04.040 Sometimes to line back to me straight and maybe a breakdown. 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:05.800 You have to cut it back and didn't go eat. 0:20:06.119 --> 0:20:10.320 So that's that's the beauty of of of having sports 0:20:10.600 --> 0:20:13.480 and and theater in my life that I can relate 0:20:13.520 --> 0:20:16.040 to the two. The only thing is, I'm not Ray 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:18.960 Lewis isn't gonna knock me out on the stage. That's 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:22.960 that's it. Yeah, I mean, it's it's you're not trying 0:20:22.960 --> 0:20:26.560 to impose your will or have avoid having someone else's 0:20:26.600 --> 0:20:28.240 will opposed on you. It said, it's a much more 0:20:28.640 --> 0:20:30.919 you know, subtle, fluid thing. An audience member is not 0:20:30.960 --> 0:20:33.439 supposed to see the preparation, right, they're not supposed to 0:20:33.480 --> 0:20:37.439 understand what's gone into what you just described. But Laurence 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:40.320 Olivier others have said that you have to have the 0:20:40.400 --> 0:20:44.159 humility to prepare, to have the confidence to perform. But 0:20:44.200 --> 0:20:46.680 the second doesn't come without the first, and humility is 0:20:46.720 --> 0:20:49.639 required because it's a grind, it's not glamorous and it 0:20:49.760 --> 0:20:53.160 just takes hard ass work. So you you've done that, 0:20:53.280 --> 0:20:57.240 You've you've fallen in love with Shakespeare. But that's not Chicago. 0:20:57.400 --> 0:21:01.080 That's not singing and dancing, right, So you get eventually, 0:21:01.359 --> 0:21:03.760 how do you get to the place where you're convinced 0:21:03.760 --> 0:21:07.680 that you can play the the sweet talking, smooth, charismatic 0:21:07.760 --> 0:21:10.360 lawyer Billy Flynn in Chicago. And I think there's three 0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:15.680 or four songs of tongue Friends of the Courtroom that's 0:21:15.680 --> 0:21:19.040 still a lead from ShakespeRe. That it's different now it is, 0:21:19.119 --> 0:21:22.400 but you know, you talk about preparation, and ironically enough 0:21:22.560 --> 0:21:26.080 and my preparation in my early days of working with 0:21:26.119 --> 0:21:29.320 my my acting coach, Anna Maria, I had to sing 0:21:29.400 --> 0:21:31.679 lessons to help me with my voice, to help with 0:21:31.840 --> 0:21:35.680 range and and nuance, and to use my diet friend 0:21:35.840 --> 0:21:39.160 and not talk from my throat um, which I still 0:21:39.200 --> 0:21:42.879 do from time this time um. And we used to 0:21:42.960 --> 0:21:45.920 do vocal warm ups, really work on the on the 0:21:46.040 --> 0:21:48.240 my voice. We used to sing songs and one of 0:21:48.240 --> 0:21:50.879 the earlier songs Chris was all I care about his 0:21:51.000 --> 0:21:55.520 love and she says to me in our like like 0:21:55.640 --> 0:21:58.480 maybe the first few times I've worked with her. She 0:21:58.560 --> 0:22:01.959 would get on the piano, a little short Italian lady, 0:22:02.160 --> 0:22:04.680 and she here and she has the little her glasses 0:22:04.720 --> 0:22:06.520 on looking at the music, and she would look I 0:22:06.520 --> 0:22:08.159 would hit a bot a note. She would look up 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:10.040